Google representatives supported CTIA’s request that the FCC reconsider out-of-band emissions limits for Citizens Band Radio Service devices, said a report on a meeting with Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Making sure LTE devices “are available for the 3.5 GHz band” and making the devices “more readily usable for CBRS will speed and lower the cost of CBRS deployments,” Google said. “Google’s propagation testing indicates the OOBE requirements can be relaxed as proposed by CTIA without material increased risk of harmful interference.” CTIA argued (see 1604140036) that addressing OOBE limits in the shared spectrum band, 20 MHz-wide channels and less-restrictive power levels are key to making it “economically viable” and will set the CBRS "on a better path towards meaningful investment, innovation, and deployment.” The filing was posted Thursday in docket 12-354.

Wearables are a growth opportunity for the flat SIM (subscriber identity module) card market, an IHS report said Wednesday. The number of SIM cards shipped globally is forecast to increase from 5.4 billion in 2015 to 5.6 billion in 2020, IHS said. That's "an opportunity for operators and card suppliers to increase SIM penetration for both pluggable and embedded form factors,” IHS analyst Don Tait said.

Qualcomm gave a progress report Wednesday on adoption of its Quick Charge 3.0 technology, highlighting the HTC 10 as one smartphone to incorporate Quick Charge 3.0 and saying more compatible devices and accessories will be announced over the coming months. With 3.0, a typical smartphone can charge from zero to 80 percent in roughly 35 minutes, 27 percent faster than the previous version of Quick Charge, the company said. The technology is forward and backward compatible and can be implemented in USB Type-A, USB micro, USB Type-C and proprietary connectors.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved a Vivint Wireless request for special temporary authority (STA) to test LTE equipment in the 3.5 GHz band. “The purpose of this operation will be to run field tests and determine what kind of performance we can achieve based on the new 3550 MHz rules under certain conditions such as: intercell and intracell interference, different lines of sight, channel configurations etc.,” Vivint said in an STA request. Vivint said the test will include one primary site with four-six transmitters and an adjacent secondary site with one-three transmitters that would allow the company to test intercell interference scenarios. "Being able to perform a small trial with the new rules and emerging LTE equipment will help us determine if we are able to offer a service and build a portion of our business around this technology and spectrum," Vivint said. The FCC approved a framework for the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band last April (see 1504170055).

Rules allowing 5G wireless operations in the 28 GHz band need to safeguard fixed satellite services from terrestrial emissions, since relatively small numbers of outdoor 5G transmitters "could severely impact" FSS satellite on-orbit receivers, O3b said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-177. It recapped a meeting between FCC staff, including International Bureau Satellite Division Chief Jose Albuquerque, and O3b representatives including Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Suzanne Malloy. The filing said O3b talked about its previously submitted technical analysis of possible 5G/satellite operating requirements, and repeated its request the FCC delimit aggregate terrestrial interference into FSS satellite receivers in a Further NPRM before finalizing 28 GHz rules.

The FCC’s 39-month timetable for the post-TV incentive auction transition is time enough, said Grundy Integration, RIO Steel & Tower and T-Mobile in a meeting at the FCC. The company representatives met with Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, Gary Epstein, chairman of the Incentive Auction Task Force, and other FCC officials, said a filing in docket 14-252. “Representatives from the tower-climbing companies estimated that the average antenna installation project takes two to four weeks, though they emphasized that there is no typical installation,” the filing said. “A low-elevation, side-mounted, high-frequency antenna installation could be done in as few as five days. An extremely complex, high-elevation, top-mounted, low-frequency antenna installation could take six weeks or more, though the tower climbing experts characterized an installation of this complexity and length as "an outlier.” Both tower companies have the personnel to help complete the transition, they said. Equipment isn't an issue, they said. “RIO operates its own full turnkey tower fabrication facility,” the filing said. “This facility produces pole derricks called gin poles; complete tower structures, such as guyed towers up to 1,500 feet and self-support towers up to 450 feet; and the components necessary for tower modifications and strengthening. RIO can fabricate a gin pole in as little as two weeks once it has the design specifications.” T-Mobile, expected to be a major player in the 600 MHz auction, has said repeatedly that broadcasters should be able to complete the repacking within the 39 months mandated by the FCC and within the $1.75 billion budget established by Congress (see 1602180063). “Until we know how many stations will need to move and to what channels, it remains an exercise in futility to argue that the FCC set precisely the right deadline and that there should be no safety valve whatsoever for stations unable to transition in time,” an NAB spokesman said in response to T-Mobile.

Health tech company MC10 partnered with PCH, a custom products company, to commercialize MC10’s Wearable Interactive Stamp Platform (WiSP) that lives on a tattoo-like wearable the size of a postage stamp. When paired with a smartphone, the WiSP platform enables consumer applications including cashless payments, hotel room access, event registration and interactive experiences at amusement parks, sports and music events, said the companies. The smart stamp was first commercialized with beauty company L’Oréal as the first “stretchable electronic” measuring an individual’s exposure to ultraviolet rays. The stamp uses near-field communication technology to enable interactions between the wearer and a brand, said the companies. By combining cloud analytics with the WiSP platform, brands can “deepen their understanding of consumer behavior,” the companies said. As a security measure to protect user data, the breathable, waterproof stamp is “unreadable upon removal,” they said.

FirstNet is developing a strategy for a scenario where state governors opt out of the national public safety network, FirstNet officials said in an interview for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) blog. A state deciding to deploy its own radio access network (RAN) “will affect the overall economics of the entire network,” said FirstNet Director of State Plans Richard Reed. “There are significant challenges with the economics of this network for a long time if and when states choose the path of opt-out. Because when a state takes on that responsibility, it changes the cost basis for FirstNet, as well as the revenue basis for the entire network, the deployment, and adoption of users for the entire network. It really confuses the economic picture.” Reed said FirstNet is preparing for different scenarios. “We’ve got some strategies in place, but we do have challenges associated with states from taking on that [RAN] responsibility in terms of the revenue sharing, the economics of an opt-out state, and the ultimate reinvestment into the overall nationwide network. They are very complicated, and so we’re going to have to develop strategies with our partner to accommodate them.” Reed advised any state thinking about opting out to “consider all of the technical, operational, and fiscal risks associated with taking on the responsibility of building a network. … An opt-out state must be functionally, operationally, from a security standpoint and from a technical standpoint, able to connect to our core for deployment of our services.”

The International Trade Commission seeks comment by April 20 on a request for a Tariff Act Section 337 ban on imports of cellphones that allegedly infringe patents held by Creative Technology and Creative Labs, said an ITC notice slated for Tuesday's Federal Register. In the March 24 complaint, Creative said cellphones imported by BlackBerry, HTC, Lenovo, LG, Motorola Mobility, Samsung, Sony Mobile and ZTE copy its patented technology for organizing songs by artist and album. The technology is also used on Apple phones, but Apple licensed the patent, said Creative. The complaint asks for a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order banning import and sale of infringing products by those companies. Those companies didn't comment Monday.

Ericsson got FCC approval to expand its 5G testing, in cooperation with Verizon, at its main campus in Plano, Texas. Ericsson, which started 5G tests in 2014 under an experimental license, asked the FCC to expand the license to include the 27.5-28.5 GHz band and allow the repositioning of base stations. “The purpose of modifying our test environment is to develop and validate outdoor and indoor 5G use cases for industries and consumers,” Ericsson said in its application seeking the modification. “We will develop test cases for multiple industries and understand/validate how 5G can improve the use cases as compared to the current … systems.”